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Summary: Scully pushes the limits for Mulder...Spoilers: None...Rating: G, Story...
Next Level (1/1)by Sheryl Martin
Dana Scully stretched out her legs from under her desk; wriggling her toes freely under the nylons as she pushed her sensible shoes further under the chair.
It had been a boring day.
A day without Mulder.
And she had accomplished quite a bit in his absence to some special consultation at the VCU.
She had managed to not only reorganise her own desk and finish a stack of overdue rewrites on various case file; but also to sweep the floor clean of Mulder's never ending stacks of dark brown folders, putting them back in their assigned places in the filing cabinets. Of course, he would be asking her where they were for the next week, but that was a given.
And she had filled an entire drawer of one of the filing cabinets with backdated expense reports and medical claims.
Leaning back in the chair, Scully sighed loudly in the empty room. She was tired and finished and still had another two hours technically before she could leave.
Not that Skinner would complain - he knew how many hours she put on on her own time at home; working on research papers and reports and various favours for other departments who didn't want to be directly involved with the X Files but wanted help the same. But people would talk, and that was one sure way to get noticed for all the wrong things.
Her pencil tapped rhythmically on the desk; eraser-side down. The file in front of her was about ready to be filed, except for Mulder's last report. And she didn't want to leave it until morning. Again.
Pushing herself away from the desk, Scully walked over to the large wooden desk; seating herself in from of his computer. Reaching over, she hit the power switch.
She usually didn't go anywhere near his files. To her, computer privacy was in the same league as desk privacy. And she really didn't want to know what he had on his hard drive; if it had anything to compare with the contents of his desk drawers.
The monitor flickered once, then settled into a dull dark screen. Moving the mouse over to the "RIP" folder, she opened it. Mulder had mentioned that he put all his reports in that folder if they didn't satisfy his standards for closing the case.
It was a pretty fat folder.
Locating the actual report was easy - Mulder wasn't creative in his choice of names; instead just using the actual case number. Tapping the keys lightly, she sent it to the printer; hearing the old machine hum in response on the other side of the room.
Closing the window, she looked at the other folders with a twinge of curiosity.
Games.
Suppressing a shudder, she put the pointer on it and tapped the mouse.
Scanning the file names, one eyebrow rose slightly on Scully's brow. Just card games, from the names. Nothing very risque here.
Sometimes he surprised her.
Her gaze landed on an icon. Knight Quest. That sounded interesting.
Besides, it wasn't like she was invading his privacy; checking out the games on his computer. The other agents upstairs prided themselves on playing Doom as much as possible and not getting caught by Skinner.
Who held the Bureau High Score, last she had heard.
The screen shimmered and solidified into the same first-person shooting game she had seen on so many other computers both at work and in the stores. Typical shoot-em-up stuff.
The dialogue started.
"Brave knight, your mission is to find and rescue the fair Damsel Dana from the clutches of evil..."
Her eyebrow almost smashed into her hairline.
Pursing her lips, she listened to the rest of the dialogue - the same as the rest of the games; just to find the prize at the end.
The Damsel Dana came up on the screen; beckoning Sir Mulder.
He had hacked into the game, putting a picture of her there. Well, not a full picture of her; just her head. On the body of some mediaeval princess with a long flowing gown and waving a hanky in distress.
She was not amused.
Settling down behind the desk, Scully activated the game.
She had two hours to kill.
Literally.
****************
Finally chopping the last monster to pieces, Scully sat back in the chair with a satisfying smirk. She had managed to beat the game on the lowest level in record time; thanks to having a godson who loved to play video games with her.
The end scenes began to roll; consisting of the Sir Mulder character breaking through the final door and finding the Damsel Dana. Dropping to one knee, the image began to speak.
"Fair Damsel Dana, I have fought my way back to your side and saved you from the monsters surrounding your castle. Please do me the honour of allowing me to court you as any gentle knight would..."
The eyebrow rose again.
"Sir Mulder, I do admit that at first I was suspicious of your intentions. But I have found you to be of good heart and true love, and I do accept your proposal..."
The resulting kissing scene sent both eyebrows crashing against the ceiling above Scully.
Picking up the phone, she punched in a number.
"Agent Kirby, Computer Systems Section..."
"Agent Kirby..." Scully dropped her voice into purr mode. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour..."
"Hey, Dana... anything..." The agent's voice dropped. "Thanks for helping me figure out that last medical term - I had no idea it was something that serious..."
"No problem." Scully's fingers flew over the keyboard. "I'm sending you a file right now over the network. I need you to do a little bit of modification for me..."
"You're not saying hacking, right? 'Cause I don't hack, Dana..." The voice held a note of pride. "I just 'improve' things..."
"Certainly..." Scully smiled. "Now let me tell you what I need..."
*****************
Mulder unlocked the office door wearily; stuffing the keys back into his pocket as he flipped on the lights. One of the bad things about being in the VCU was that they felt that you were on call at any time to help save their respective behinds.
Which they had the right to, but Mulder had extracted certain promises and favours again. Which helped keep the X Files running. Which worked out okay, except that he was tired and definitely not ready to face a barrage of questions from Scully.
Who was nowhere in sight.
Which was not surprising - she had technically finished work two hours ago. And knowing Scully, she was already at home immersed in some medical journal or working on some other report to try and figure out some aspect of their cases that she didn't agree with and had to reason away.
Flopping down behind his computer, he turned it on. Maybe a good game of Knight Quest would fix him up.
Lord knows it cheered him up enough times in the past. And the Lone Gunmen had done a great job of putting the patches in that he had asked for; Frohike even offering to do more if he wanted.
Of course, Mulder had refused. For now.
For a challenge, he started on the hardest level. After all, what better way to work out your aggression against faceless bureaucrats than to waste a few goblins and demons?
************
Reaching behind him, Mulder intertwined his fingers and felt his knuckles crack with a satisfying crunch. It had been a dammed good game - much more intensive than he had remembered.
The final scene came up, his favourite.
Taking a sunflower seed from the near-empty bag sitting beside the keyboard, he waited for the kiss. Frohike had worked for hours to make this one work.
Damsel Dana waiting patiently for Sir Mulder to kiss her... he bent over and put his lips to hers...
Suddenly she pushed him away.
Mulder began to choke, coughing hard as the seed slipped down his throat.
The female figure began to speak as he spat out what remained of the shell.
"Sir Mulder, I ask you if you are ready to move to the next level; to an even greater challenge than what you have faced already..."
The dialogue window popped up; asking the confused Mulder to pick either Yes or No.
Biting down on his lower lip, he thought for a minute.
Moving the pointer over the Yes square, he tapped the mouse.
"Very well." The screen changed to a blank wall; the writing clear.
"My place. 9:00 pm. Bring wine."
The voice continued. "You have one more chance to change your mind. Once you agree to embark on the next level, there is no going back."
The same two squares hovered in front of Mulder again. Yes or No.
Popping another seed into his mouth, he grinned.
Yes.
In a land far, far away a computer beeped as an incoming message was routed to its owner.
Scully looked at her screen with a knowing smile.
And got up to light the candles and turn on the oven.
********************